A Black and White Cross
by The Projective Otaku
Summary: Alba, a young boy from the western mountains, beats Tatsumi in the Martial Arts contest. He entered so that he could make money to eat, but got more than he bargained for when General Esdese imprisons him. How will he be introduced to the revolution? Will he turn to the revolution? Or will he join the empire wholeheartedly? See the Rated M Accompaniment for Chapter 2.
1. Unexpected Circumstances

A Black and White Cross

Chapter 1

Unexpected Circumstances

Alba Tapaidh let out a slow breath as he looked across the rink. It was bright in the open stadium and the sun reflected off the arena's sand floor. The air had a faint tang of iron from blood spilt in the previous matches. Alba's sword, a two-and-a-half -foot bastard broadsword, sat in a neutral stance pointed diagonally up and away from his body. No one ever would have guessed that this scrawny knat of a boy not yet a man would have cut an efficient and bloody swath to the finals in a martial arts tournament.

Across from Alba was another boy, a bit less scrawny, but no more a man. His brown hair and eyes contrasted greatly with Alba's stark white features. The other boy was fairly tan from a life of farm labor and martial arts training, whereas Alba was pale from years spent indoors, nose stuck in a book. The boy wore an old tan trench coat that he had used in earlier matches to blind opponents. Alba wore a worn set of light leather armor, stiff where you needed protection and soft where you needed movement.

Like Alba, the other boy had won many of his matches because his opponents had underestimated him and Alba was determined not to make the same mistake. He could see the boy's quietly confidant stance and the dangerous gleam in his eye. This was a human who could take another's life without flinching. Alba took another deep breath and let it out slowly.

"And now for the final match!" the announcer said, reading the slip of paper in one hand and raising the other. "On one side we have The Blacksmith, and on the other, we have The Librarian," the announcer looked up at this, "You have both won all of your matches up to now, whoever wins this one will take home the grand prize, Blacksmith, are you ready?"

A quiet nod.

"Librarian, are you ready?"

Another quiet nod.

"Go!" the announcer said, cutting his raised hand down through the air and dashing off the raised arena floor… and nothing happened. Both of the fighters simply stood in their ready positions, the Blacksmith's sword at his side, and Alba's in his diagonal ready position. Unlike the Blacksmith, who had gotten through the tournament on pure strength and ability, Alba was a comparative weakling. He was not incredibly talented with the sword, lacking the subconscious instinct that lifelong students of the craft like the Blacksmith took for granted. Alba wasn't physically strong either, weighing in at only a hundred and thirty pounds of wiry muscle and bone. What Alba did have, that had allowed him to get this far in the tournament, and in the Capital as a whole, was a quick wit, a sharp mind, and the speed of a demon.

So it was that Alba had studied every match, finding a strategy to beat every opponent. It was also so that he knew that the Blacksmith would attack like a demon from hell after about thirty seconds.

The Blacksmith smirked before letting out blood-curdling battle cry. He lept off with enormous speed, crossing the gap between the two combatants in a heartbeat. The Blacksmith brought his sword up as he moved in an overhead two-handed blow, and Alba brought his up in a two-handed defense, blade parallel to the ground. The Blacksmith brought his sword down with another cry and Alba caught it on the flat of his blade, but didn't take the weight of the blow, instead directing the Blacksmith with all of his momentum to pass him. This caught the Blacksmith off guard and he went rolling behind Alba, but in the split second when he was off balance and still within reach of Alba's sword Alba moved forward on his heels just slightly and brought the blade down in his right hand, cleanly slicing the Blacksmith's Achilles tendons in both ankles. The Blacksmith face planted in the ground behind Alba and let out a deep growl. He tried to get up on one knee and only when his leg failed him did he notice his injuries, so clean and precise the cuts had been. His face twisted in anguish as the pain hit him and he fell to his stomach again. Alba walked over to him and squatted in front of his face, giving him a wide smile; not gloating, but friendly.

"You'll need to stay off those legs for a while, keep those ankles wrapped and you'll be good as new soon." The Blacksmith looked at him, face still twisted in fading pain and nodded slightly. "You're hot-headed and rash, but other than that your form is good, you fought well." Alba stretched out his hand low enough so that the boy could reach it. He looked up at Alba and nodded again, taking his hand.

"Thank you," he croaked. "How did you do that?"

"I looked and listened, instead of being showy and talking." Alba said as he got up. A green-haired boy a little bit older than the two of them and a wild-looking blonde woman came into the arena and helped the Blacksmith up, making sure to keep the weight off his injured legs.

Alba turned away and looked around. He kind of needed the money, he hadn't made any since coming to the Capital a few days earlier and he had already spent his limited supply on food. He spotted someone coming up the side ramp and he turned toward her, moving to the edge of the ring. She had a military bearing, back straight, head up, purposeful. She wore a custom made Imperial Army dress uniform that strained at the bounds of propriety, the only decoration or insignia being a black cross on the cap.

Alba struck his right fist to his heart and bowed slightly, and ancient military gesture that he had claimed as his own. The woman walked forward and immediately clamped a leashed collar around his neck. Alba's heart began to race in a pure fight-or-flight reaction, but he quickly got it under control. He was knowledgeable enough to know from minutia in her uniform that she was from Army Group North, and was also aware enough of current events to know that the young, beautiful, and powerful commander of Army Group North had recently returned to the Capital. He took another deep breath and reviewed his options, and realized he had none. If this really was General Esdeath, she could turn him into mincemeat whenever she pleased. He would simply have to play along and survive until such time as he could escape.

This all flashed through his mind in only a few seconds, his only reaction being to nod his head slightly. As he did, he kept his eyes on her face looking for emotion and intent. He was surprised at what he found there. Not the cold, hard face of a jaded soldier, but a soft, warm look similar to a school girl looking at her crush.

"Don't worry, everything's fine now." She said as she led him out of the stadium.

* * *

Alba sat chained to a chair in a large, decorative council room in the palace at the center of the Capital. The heavy steel chains were wrapped around his chest and upper arms eight or nine times. He thought that was a little excessive, it wasn't like he was going to run, at least not while it was a hopeless prospect. General Esdeath stood just out of his field of vision to his left, and six others stood in front of him. One, a young brown-haired man, was dressed in the uniform of a seaman in the Imperial Navy, and smelled slightly of fish. Another was a girl even younger than Alba's sixteen years in what appeared to be a grey schoolgirl's uniform. Alba knew that it was the girl's uniform for the Imperial Academy's School of Government Service, more commonly referred to as the Assassin's School. A very… well dressed… man in a lab coat and suit stood aside them. A tall blonde man in court dress leaned against the large conference table in the room. Another very large man in the scant uniform of the Incineration Corps stood behind them. The last one was a young redhead in the uniform of the Imperial Police. It didn't escape him that every single one of them had an Imperial Arm. General Esdeath led off.

"This is Alba Tapaidh, he will be a back-up member for the Jaegers… as well as my new lover." Alba nearly choked on a lung and began to cough profusely. She gave him a concerned look and he shook his head, waving it off with a hand bound to the chair arm. She continued.

"Do any of you have a spouse or significant other?" She asked. The Incinerator Corpsman raised his hand, much to the obvious surprise of those attending. They began discussing how to "capture his heart" and "win him over" while Alba was forced to sit and listen. No girl in his hometown had wanted to get within ten feet of him and he was supposed to believe that arguably the most powerful young bachelorette in the Empire wanted to take him on as a lover? It seemed preposterous, but as the discussion progressed, he realized that they were being completely serious, as if it was normal to kidnap and bind those who you wished to fall in love with.

* * *

The two of them sat on a ledge overlooking the burning ruins of a fort that had stood tall but moments before. General Esdeath's personal guard squad, the Jaegers she had called them, moved about inside the flames, picking off stray bandits that had survived their initial assault. Her hand lay on his and he was surprised at its almost feverish warmth.

"I will train you myself, and one day you may be as strong as they are." She said. She was still blushing and spoke in a quiet, subdued tone. Alba was fascinated by what was happening. He could barely wrench his eyes away. He had read stacks upon stacks of books on war; treatise, memoirs, and novels. This was the first time he had seen anything close to it in real life. It took him a second to wrench himself from his thoughts and respond. He scoffed.

"I should hope not." He said, not turning his head from the battle. She came out of her schoolgirl daze and frowned.

"You don't want to get stronger?" she asked. Her voice was chilled, with an edge. She began to doubt her choice in choosing a lover. If he had no will to get stronger, to grow, then there was no room for him in her heart.

"If getting stronger means being as wickless and stupid as those six then no." He replied, still completely engrossed. She frowned and looked back out over the battle. She had thought it was a beautiful example of a frontal assault, she had even expressly asked them to make a spectacle in order to impress her new lover.

"How so?" she asked. He looked up at this and began to think.

"They went in half-cocked and guns blazin', not knowing what could be in there." He said "What if there had been an Imperial Arms user in there? What if they had heavy weapons or snipers? On top of that, just because the Jaegers are powerful Imperial Arms users, doesn't mean that they are impervious to stray rounds."

She frowned and thought about it for a moment. What he said had merit, but any idiot could be cautious. "What would you have had them do?" She asked. It was his turn to frown, he reached into his shirt and pulled out a white marble cross on a leather necklace. He began to rub it with his thumb in his favorite thinking pose.

"First I would have had the organic-type Imperial Arm conduct an attack on the front gate, with his user providing covering fire. Then I would use angel boy and that precision feather attack to take out any enemy officers, snipers, Imperial Arms users, and anyone with a heavy weapon. Next I would have used the assassin and the seaman to attack the opposite corners of the fort, to begin herding any stragglers toward the fight at the front gate. After they had gotten the enemy as clustered as possible I would have the incinerator corpsman attack, his Imperial Arm has a great Area of Effect and would turn the enemies' concentrated positions to ash. And Mr. Lab Coat's Imperial Arm is better suited to creating rather than destroying, so I would hold him back and use him as a reserve."

She smiled. That, or something similar to that, had been the original plan, but she had feared he would grow bored of the comparatively limited excitement that plan would entail. Obviously not. Not only had he come up with a highly capable battle plan as an amateur, but he had done so based on knowledge of the Jaeger's Imperial Arms that he had obviously gleaned from somewhere else, because they had not yet shown their full potential. Her earlier doubt was washed away. He had one of the rarest strengths of all, intelligence. He had potential for physical strength, yes, but intelligence was something you either had, or you didn't, and he had it. Her hand slipped back over his as they watched the fortress burn.


	2. Exposition

A Black and White Cross

Chapter 3

Exposition

Out of pure habit, Esdese woke up early, while the sun's rays were only just coming up over the eastern horizon. She stretched and yawed, but when she moved to get off the bed something impeded her. She looked down in semi-conscious confusion at the lump of blankets and pillows between her and the edge of the bed. No matter how much she squinted and tilted her head she couldn't think of what it was. She finally just pulled back the sheets.

Alba slept as soundly as any teenager in the morning, and he closed his eyes tighter and rolled away from the pre-dawn light, one hand grasping for the blanket that had been stripped of him. His hand kept wandering until it found Esdese. Still completely unconscious he grabbed her and brought her close nudging his face into her and sighing contentedly.

Esdese giggled and crawled down into him, pulling him even closer. As the fog of sleep lifted from her mind, and she remembered the details of the night before, her smile grew and her blush warmed and blossomed. She never would have guessed when she returned to the Capital that her quest for love would have been so successful. He had shown her a world of joy and happiness she hadn't even known existed. She hugged him even more tightly

Alba felt an unnatural pressure and his heart sped up in fear. He kept his breathing steady and slowly opened his eyes. The only thing there was a wall of pale white skin. The memories of the night before came flooding back to him as he caught her scent and the sounds of her breathing, her heart beating. He closed his eyes again and they simply lay there, basking in each other.

* * *

Alba walked into the council room, the same one he had been held in the day before, feeling good. Probably the best he had felt since entering the Capital. He wore the white uniform of an officer in Army Group North Esdese had ordered from the palace tailor the day before, his hair was styled up, and he had had the first opportunity to bathe in a real shower with real soap since leaving his hometown.

"You look well rested." The seamen, Wave, commented as Alba sat down at the table.

"Yea, I guess." He said, trying to sound indifferent, and failing. He felt goddamn great and wanted to scream it from the rooftops. Just for the moment he settled on nibbling a donut from the plate in the middle of the table. Esdese came in looking similarly… refreshed, standing behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder possessively. Seryu, the young Imperial Police member, looked back and forth between the two before smiling and letting out a small giggle under her breath.

"What?" Wave asked, looking from her to Alba and Esdese, completely oblivious.

"Oh… nothing, I'll tell you later." Seryu said, her Imperial Arm Hekatonkheires letting out a slight bleat in her arms.

"We will go on a hunt today, I think." Esdese started, "There are a number of Danger Beasts living outside the city walls; they will prove excellent prey." Alba nodded, he didn't really didn't know where to go from here, the romance novels back home usually ended after what happened the night before. A hunt would be a good time to talk with Esdese, to actually find out what the hell he had gotten himself into.

* * *

It didn't turn out exactly the way he wanted. Esdese said that there was a Danger Beast living on a forested hill about fifty klicks west of the Capital. She had taken Seryu to the other side of the hill and left Alba with Wave to flush it out toward them. The two of them began to climb toward the summit to get a glimpse of their surroundings.

Alba had changed into the olive-drab summer weight Imperial Army uniform before leaving, taking with him a standard-issue .33 caliber SA-21 battle rifle instead of a sword. He also carried a number of grenades, satchel charges, and other explosives in order to force the beast into Esdese and Seryu's positions. He chuckled when he remembered how the palace's master-at-arms had balked at giving the teenager high explosives, and how white he had turned when Esdese asked him instead. He didn't particularly like using Esdese' martial prowess like that, as it slightly offset his own manhood, but until he had established a reputation of his own, he'd just have to suck it up.

Wave walked a few meters in front of him. The only difference in his appearance from the council room was that he had a large blue broadsword at the small of his back. It oddly resembled the chrome and red one that the Blacksmith had used a few days before, but he was sure that was just a coincidence. He wondered how his opponent was doing?

While his thoughts wondered he thought he saw a shimmer in the air twenty or so meters in front of Wave. Alba disregarded it, passing it off as a heat wave, but then he saw it again… in the same spot. Heat waves moved with the horizon and did not stay in a fixed position. Completely forgetting about Wave, he fired a burst from the hip and three 1/3 inch pieces of lead went screaming at it.

Wave heard the burp of the rifle and rolled to the side, drawing his sword. Despite his age, Wave was a veteran of the constant battles off the coast between the Empire, pirates, and neighboring kingdoms, and his reaction time showed it. A red mist appeared near the shimmer and it moved off into the trees, rustling them and allowing Wave to see its movement. He rushed off into the brush after it and Alba went to follow. Then Alba stopped cold. He couldn't say why later, but his instincts screamed at him to stop and stay as still as possible. He looked around without moving his head and saw a glimmer of steel in the corner of his eye. He lowered his chin a fraction of an inch and saw what it was. It was a katana, its distinctive shape and watered steel told that much. It was old and worn, but well kept. Its wood handle was wrapped in red-dyed cloth and its cross guard was also blood red. He froze again immediately, a bead of cold sweat running down his temple.

"Murasume? A beautiful piece." He said. If his identification of the sword was correct, he would not win in any type of fight.

"You know this blade?" A female voice said behind him. He would have said it sounded young, except for its complete lack of emotion. It was the voice of a killer.

"Yes…" he said, hesitant to answer, "I have a book on Imperial Arms back home, Murasume was one of my favorites; I could recognize it in the dark."

"Where is your home?" he voice said behind him, what an odd question

"Aachen, a small village not far from Leona." They stood in silence for a moment, the fatal tension growing, before he was violently flung around. He used the momentum to bring up his weapon and found himself facing a girl, no older than him, through the sights. He immediately recognized her from the posters around town. She looked even colder in person, her eyes were dead and her face was stone.

"You're not the owner of this estate?" She asked.

"No, I am not, Ms. Akame." The tip from her weapon was dangerously close to his throat, and he was even afraid to swallow, but he would not show fear to these people, after all, what would Esdese think of him? Akame looked him up and down, analyzing, assessing, or at least he thought that was what she was doing, it was impossible to see past those unseeing eyes. She eventually sheathed her sword. She closed her eyes as she did it and held the pommel in her hand, almost as if it was a religious experience. When she opened her eyes she spoke again.

"Come with me." He wasn't exactly in a position to argue with her, although he still held his weapon, he had no advantages. She was faster, stronger, and more experienced than him, and so he couldn't think of any strategy to stop her. He lowered his weapon and nodded. She walked past him up the hill. He followed.

They continued to walk for an hour in complete silence, which disturbed Alba. It was never truly complete silence, birds chirped, leaves rustled, and small animals skittered, but that was not the case. He could hear his own heart beat before anything else, no birds chirped, nor leaves rustled, nor did animals skitter. He began to grow anxious, gripping his weapon even more tightly and looking around instinctively.

"They can sense the evil here." She said. Her voice startled him in the silence.

"What do you mean?" He asked, his voice was flat, but that didn't stop the fear growing in the back of his throat. She said nothing as they continued on. They reached the summit of the hill in another few moments. There were others there as well, a small pink-haired girl with the Imperial Arm Pumpkin, a massive rifle, stood off to one side, viewing the world around her through a targeting system, which for Alba was somewhat creepy. A wild-looking blonde woman was there as well, in possession of the Imperial Arm Lionelle. The belt Lionelle, while it gave its user the endurance, strength, and ferocity of a wild beast, was also known to enact changes in physical appearance as well, which explained the cat tail, ears and paws. To one edge of the clearing, near a warehouse-type building, sat a young green-haired boy, also no older that Alba, with the Imperial Arm Cross Tails, a device of infinite wires and uses. Right now he was using it to sew up the wounds of a brown haired boy…

"YOU!" Alba nearly screamed before stomping off in that direction, completely forgetting that he was practically a prisoner. "What the hell are you doing out of bed, much less in the field? It's only been two days since I got you! I should…" the blond woman heard the commotion and began to stride forward, who the hell was the kid? Before she got to him Akame put up her hand and stopped her, then the blonde woman actually began to hear what this new kid was saying and smiled, unbeknownst to him they had had much the same conversation with him before coming on this little escapade.

"I couldn't just let them go out alone because I did something stupid!" He said. Alba huffed and frowned.

"So… what's your name again?" He asked.

"Tatsumi." The Blacksmith replied.

"Alba" the Library replied in kind. "What are you doing with this bunch of hooligans?" He asked gesturing to the rest of the people on the hill top. The ones with Lionelle and Crossed Tails seemed bemused by his statement, Akame still looked indifferent, and the girl with Pumpkin simply looked back and scowled before turning back to her sweep. Tatsumi simply gained a deep look. He took a moment before he answered.

"I'm here to save my village, and to destroy the corruption that chokes this nation." He said. He couldn't be serious? That wasn't even a naive novella protagonist line, it was all out manga. In the end Alba could only get out one word.

"What?" Tatsumi looked at him confused for a moment, then a nostalgic yet creepy smile crossed his face.

"That's right, you just got to the Capital, huh? Let me show you." He tried to get up, but the gunshot wounds on his right shoulder started to stretch at the Crossed Tails stitches. The green haired boy came over quickly.

"Dude, you're pushing yourself too far." He said as he grabbed Tatsumi and attempted to push him back down.

"No, Lubbock. He needs to see this." Lubbock seemed to hesitate before letting go. Tatsumi nodded and started to walk toward the outbuilding. Alba tilted his head to one side in a confused expression before following. The others gathered in a half circle around him as Tatsumi threw open the rolling door to the warehouse. It was filled with an eerie red light that seemed to highlight the horrid scene before him. Men and women lie motionless within, the only sound coming from the insects swarming the dead and dying. Elaborate torture instruments that he hadn't even read about littered the walls and tables, some of them still containing the corpses of their victims. Alba had read and seen worse, both in reality and experience. What got him was the smell, an evil smell of decay and death that no written word could convey. Many of the still forms within were in various states of decay, bloated and deformed they gave off a stench unlike any that had ever entered his nostrils. He tried to keep his stomach down and failed, falling to his knees with his breakfast going over the dirt in front of that demented and evil place. When he was done he felt light headed before falling to his side and passing out.

"What do we do with him?" Leone asked, pawed hands on her hips.

"We kill him." Mine said after a moment as she raised Pumpkin to the boy's pale temple.

"No." Akame said as she put her hand on Pumpkin, lowering it.

"Why not? He's an Imperial soldier, and is thus implicated with all the crimes of the Prime Minister and his cronies." She growled, gesturing to his distinctive uniform. Akame shook her head.

"He's not an Imperial soldier, he's from Aachen." She said, voice as flat and serious as it always been. Mine looked at the dark haired girl in astonishment before looking back to the boy, the anger failing in her limbs and her voice becoming small.

"but… there were no survivors." She said, staring at the boy with wide and distant eyes. Leone came over and knelt beside the boy, reverting to normal and quietly removing his armor and load bearing equipment until he was in noting but his fatigues and boots. She picked him up gingerly and began to walk away.

"Where are you taking him?" Mine asked, still carrying on the argument even though the fight had left her.

"Home." Leone growled before leaping away. Mine shook her head, banishing old memories to a dark corner of her mind before following. Akame and Lubbock helped Tatsumi along after them, leaving nothing but blood and emotions behind.

* * *

Esdese lay alone in her bed weeping. She berated herself for it but the tears only flowed more freely. She screamed into the empty space around her, the space that should be occupied by warmth and love. She had punished Wave far more lightly than she should have. She had wanted to rip his throat out with her bare hands and watch the life fade from his eyes for losing Alba, but despite that he was her subordinate, and deserved some loyalty, not to mention the resource his skill and experience represented. The tears seemed to flow even faster, wracking sobs from her in the night.

She had never even noticed that Dr. Stylish had never returned from the hunting trip.

* * *

**Sorry for the wait guys! I got on a manga binge with 'The World God Only Knows' - Worst Post Traumatic Series Disorder I have ever had.**

**Next chapter will have some back story...**

**"REVIEWS!" Screamed the wild and starving man.**

**Thank You for your support**


	3. Factions

A Black and White Cross

Chapter 4

Factions

Alba smelled smoke and opened his eyes. He was where he usually was, in his library, the gothic tower on the mountainside overlooking the village where he had grown up, and was hated. He shook his head, pale hair falling into his eyes. It was bad to think such thoughts in the morning. He yawned and stretched, he had fallen asleep on the floor again and his back popped several times before he let out a contented sigh. Around him on the rug he had fallen asleep on were scattered books and scrolls. He yawned again as he headed over to the window to see what the heck was going on that smoke reached all the way up to his perch.

He threw open the window only to be greeted by a wall of heat and smoke that forced him to retreat, coughing. He squinted and went back to the window to see the town burning. Shady figures moved around in the smoke and flames, some chasing others, others running around in a panic. Through it all he could hear the screams, getting louder and louder until he had to cover his ears. He let out his own shriek.

* * *

He shot up in bed, covered in a cold sweat, and he still smelled smoke. He didn't recognize the room he was in either. It was plain and simple with tan stone supporting a low wood-board ceiling. His eyes eventually fell on a woman sitting next to his bed. She had boyish looks, with short silver hair and a purple left eye, the other's position being covered by an eye patch. Only an idiot would mistake her for a boy though, she had a womanly figure that rivaled Esdese'. Like Akame he recognized her from the wanted posters around town as Najenda, leader of the outlaw group Night Raid. His eyes narrowed and his breathing steadied. She was probably the only member of the group that he could beat in a fight.

She continued to eat an apple and looked back at him with a calculating look. She munched for a while, simply looking at him. She ate loudly and the sound began to get on his nerves. It was a standard interrogation tactic to put a prisoner on edge, but Alba was determined to overcome it. He continued to stare down the ex-general while his mind wondered elsewhere. The only happy place he could find was back with Esdese. He pictured her ice-blue features in his mind and focused entirely on them, submersing himself.

She eventually put down the finished apple core on the bed stand next to Alba, eyes never breaking with his. She brushed her hands off and started speaking.

"So what's your name?" She asked in a conversational tone.

"Alba Tapaidh" He replied, tone perfectly level.

"Where you from?"

"Aachen, Province of the Lioness." She closed her one good eye and nodded her head in thought.

"How'd you get out?" She asked eventually.

"What's burning?" He shot back.

"About four or five acres of forest." She said, still in a conversational tone, "One of your teammates attacked us last night." Alba raised an eyebrow at that.

"Which one?"

"Some asshole in a lab coat." She replied with a wry look. Alba snorted.

"Dr. 'Stylish', heh, he really was an asshole, he deserved whatever he got." She chuckled at that before continuing.

"Even though he was an asshole, he made quite a racket. We're going to have to relocate now, and I was just getting to like this place." She said nostalgically, putting her head in her mechanical right hand.

"Well, I'm sorry about that." He said in apology. She let out another short chuckle.

"No helping it now." She said, lifting her head back up. "What were you doing out that far from the capital anyway?"

"I was on a hunting trip."

"Hunting what?" She asked. He lifted his head up a fraction of an inch, determined not to let this go any farther. She smiled wryly at him. "Listen, all we know is that you were in an Imperial Army uniform, with an Imperial Arms user assigned to the same team that attacked us last night, on the estate of a sadist proven guilty of kidnapping, murder, and torture by a people's court of the Revolutionary Army. It's in your best interest to cooperate."

Alba never heard the end of her statement, his mind fixating on the memories of the day before just before he passed out brought up at the mention of the sadist. He bile rose and he started to throw up again, but he pushed it down. He looked away from Najenda and tried to pass off his sudden convulsions as a small coughing fit, but she wasn't fooled. She had seen the pain and horror in his eyes.

"You know, stuff like that is common in the Capital now. Sadism is popular among the upper classes, while drugs and prostitution circulate amongst the lower class like a disease." She said, her voice attaining a deeper and far more foreboding air.

"And that's why you fight."

"And that's why we fight."

Alba looked back to see how serious her eyes were, how much she believed what she was doing was right and just. She looked at him and saw nothing but a cold wall. She nodded.

"You immobilized Tatsumi in a fair fight and detected Incursio even though it was invisible, neither of which is a small feat." She said, back to a conversational tone of voice. "So I am willing to offer you a position in Night Raid if you so choose."

"No." Her eyebrows went up at the seriousness and confidence of the immediate answer, he hadn't even thought about it. "My loyalties lie with another."

"I'm sorry to hear that." She said as she started to get up.

"What I can do," He said forcefully so that she would sit back down, "is get her to support your cause, even if it's just subliminally. You can even afford to let me go, as you're moving hideouts anyway." She sat in thought for a moment before responding.

"What makes you think we need her support?" He gave her predatory smile as she said it. The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees and Najenda suddenly knew who 'She' was.

"Her loyalties lie with the Empire." She growled.

"No, her loyalties lie with the god of war." He replied, "If the current situation was presented properly, while she wouldn't switch sides entirely, a new equation could be created."

While she couldn't quite tell what was going on behind those pale eyes, she could see the gears turning. She could see neither deceit nor treachery either, and her instincts screamed at her to agree with him.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"You can't"

It was a simple, honest answer like every single one he had given up until that point. She got up.

"I'll think about it, while I do you need to get something to eat. Lunch will be ready in a few moments, if Akame doesn't eat everything." She chuckled a bit as she walked out of the room, she stopped at the doorway and popped her head as if suddenly remembering something, "Oh! You might not want to mention your hometown around the other members, and put some clothes on." She winked at him as she closed the door.

He looked down, finally noticing he wore nothing but a pair of briefs he didn't recognize and he almost missed her cryptic comment in his ensuing embarrassment. He got out of bed put on the fatigues he had worn the day before, which had been washed and pressed. A knock at the door came as he was lacing up the boots.

"Come in." Alba said. The green-haired boy, Lubbock came in and gave him a smile.

"The Boss wanted me to escort you to lunch." He replied apologetically. Alba stood up and gestures out the door.

"Lead the way." They walked out into the hallway. It was as plain as the room he had slept in and offered little in the way of observation as the pair walked through the maze. At one intersection they heard a deep laughter as the blonde woman he had seen the day before and at the tournament crossed ahead of them. She seemed to be laughing at Tatsumi's indignant pout, whom she had tucked under a breast as big as the boy's head. As she looked up at them her laughter died out and her eyes became haunted. She instinctively held Tatsumi closer and quickened her pace away.

"What was that all about?" Alba mumbled.

"Who, Leone? She always does that with Tatsumi, lucky bastard." Lubbock replied.

"Hmmm" Alba said subconsciously as he gazed after them. Although his loyalty to Esdese didn't allow him to agree with Lubbock's comment, that wasn't what he had been referring to. The rest of the way to lunch passed in silence. Lubbock led him to a servant's dining room adjacent to the kitchen, where Akame and Tatsumi were preparing salted meat and cheese. Leone and the pink-haired girl from the day before sat chatting at the table and Najenda sat with them in silence. She nodded to him as he entered and took a seat across from the two girls who showed no reaction to his presence. Lubbock sat between him and Najenda as Akame and Tatsumi brought out two platters loaded with sandwiches. Alba suddenly realized that he hadn't eaten since the morning before and that that meal had been… rejected. He eyed the sandwiches hungrily. The meal passed in friendly conversation between the members of Night Raid, with only Najenda and Alba staying silent. Akame didn't say anything either but Alba assumed that that was more because her mouth was occupied by sandwich after sandwich than anything else. Everyone began to file out as they finished their lunches. Lubbock looked at Najenda for permission to leave before going. After the others had left Akame and Tatsumi began to gather the plates but Najenda waved them off. After that it was just her and Alba, gauging each other diagonally across the table.

"You only ate one sandwich?" She asked.

"I was afraid Akame might attack me if I got another." He replied. She chuckled at that and shook her head.

"She might have, she might have." She said, her voice trailing off, "We were there you know, at Aachen."

The sudden comment caught him off guard. Had she known what he was dreaming about earlier?

"Someone told the Prime Minister that the town was housing soldiers for the Revolutionary Army, so he sent a band of mercenaries to burn it to the ground. It wasn't true of course, but if we let every town that was suspect get razed then no one would actually help us, so Night Raid was sent as a kinda… quick-reaction force. Only thing was that we weren't quick enough. By the time we got there the town was already in flames and all of the residents slaughtered. We killed the mercenaries, but that didn't bring any of the villagers back. We looked for survivors but we couldn't find any, only charred corpses." Her eyes had grown haunted with memory.

"I lived in the library up on the side of the mountain. After I saw what was happening I hid in a secret cellar. I heard people come in but I thought they were the mercenaries." He said clinically. That night had been nearly two years ago.

"I remember that library. We got all the books, you know. They're at the Revolutionary Army's headquarters." She said, a small smile creasing her face before failing again.

"I'm glad to know that they're ok." He said, the comment lost on Najenda.

"The only ones from that night that are still with us are Leone and Mine. It always hits Leone especially hard." Alba nodded as he comprehended the woman's reaction to him. Najenda looked at him for another long moment before speaking again.

"I've decided to go along with your plan, the chance to get Esdese on our side is just too much to pass up. Akame will escort you back to the Capital and keep an eye on you; if you default on our deal she has orders to kill you." She said in a cool business tone.

"I understand." He said as they shook hands.

* * *

Alba stood waiting outside the main gates to the palace. The guard had left nearly twenty minutes before and Alba was getting impatient. Suddenly the massive gates began to open and he caught a glimpse of Esdese walking out, trailing a guard trying to put a brave face on being terrified. Alba started to smile until he saw her face, cold and hard as steel. He quickly shut his own emotions down with practiced efficiency and put on a neutral expression. She approached at a brisk walk and looked him up and down.

"Come with me." She said, sending an icicle through his heart. Even though they had been together for only a short time, they had shared some of the most intimate moments humans could. In the end the fact remained that they had been together for less than a week and Alba really knew nothing about Esdese, so the doubt that he could have misjudged her remained. He followed obediently. She led him on the ten minute journey back to her wing in silence. Alba could have sworn that the air was colder than it had been outside the palace and a fogged breath seemed verify that. Others avoided the couple and didn't approach within ten meters. One pore sod who did got a glare from Esdese and he nearly peed his pants. They eventually got to her wing and went straight to the bedroom, ignoring a confused and shy looking Bols and Wave who was walking with an awkward limp. She closed the doors behind her. He turned to her and prepared to take whatever she threw at him, or so he thought. She was head and shoulders taller than Alba and so when she grabbed him and pulled him into her he was nearly suffocated in her ample chest. He was more surprised by the tears he felt on his head as she pressed her face into his hair.

"I thought you were gone." She said under her breath.

"Shhhh," He said as he held her tight to him, "I will never leave you."

They stood together for a while, simply being together.


	4. Loyalties

A Black and White Cross

Chapter 5

Loyalties

Alba stood in the sun and tried not to throw up again. He couldn't turn away from the sight that had made him do just that two days before without breaking his cold and calculating façade to Esdese, who stood right next to him. They were both on the same hill that they had come to hunt on earlier that week and Alba had just thrown open the door to the human slaughterhouse on top to show Esdese. They were surrounded by two concentric rings, the innermost being the Jaegers and the outermost being her Wache des Kommandaten, soldiers handpicked from Army Group North for strength and loyalty. Inside the Jaegers' protective circle stood two men flanked by two more members of the Wache. One, the owner of the estate, was middle-aged and heavy set and occupied his time sweating profusely and looking nervously from the Wache to Esdese and Alba. The other, presumably his son, was tall and lanky, with greasy hair and distant eyes that were more occupied with Esdese than Alba cared for. Alba turned back to the Jaegers before his stomach overcame his resolve.

"Seryu, come take a look at this." He said. She turned and gave him the innocent smile she had on when she wasn't going bat-shit insane.

"Ok!" She said and skipped over, her Imperial Arm Hekatonkheires, 'Koro', held in her arms and letting out the occasional bleat as it looked around indifferently. She came up to him and looked at him with that same smile. He gestured to the open doorway. She was still smiling when she looked in, although it seemed to freeze in place, losing its sense of warmth. She was still making the same face when she went over to the side of the building, just out of sight and began to wretch. Esdese scowled at what she perceived at a sign of weakness in one of her men and started to go after her before Alba put a light touch on her arm and shook his head.

"Let me handle it, love." He said quietly. Her scowl fell into something more resigned and she nodded once. He nodded back and went over to the young Imperial Guardsman. She was crouched down now, crying quietly. He crouched down next to her and laid his hand on her back.

"Wha-what was that?" She asked between sobs.

"That was what this empire has become, the corruption that permeates it." He said softly.

"No… No! My father would not have defended such… such an injustice!" She nearly screamed, trying to deny the horror she had just witnessed.

"No, no he would not. Your father defended an ideal, an ideal that we must fight to protect." He said firmly. He got up and went back to Esdese, leaving the young woman to mull over his words. That should be enough to turn Seryu with her overdeveloped sense of justice. The other Jaegers were battle-hardened veterans, and would not be so affected by the sight. Their loyalties lied with Esdese and if he wanted to gain their support, he would have to gain hers as well.

"You're too soft on them." She said as he returned.

"Possibly, but sometimes true strength requires a softer touch to mature properly." He said. She snorted and went back to surveying the scene before her. She didn't know what he was planning, but she had learned to trust him over the past few days and was waiting patiently. He turned and looked as well, forcing a cool look.

"Tell me, what do you see here?" He asked after a moment, gesturing to the interior of the building. She thought for a few moments before answering.

"I see the weak." She said simply. He nodded understandingly before continuing.

"Really? That's not what I see at all." He said, equally simply. She raised a pale blue eyebrow as he continued. "Many of the people in here were young, healthy. They all had promising futures ahead of them: tailors, smiths, merchants… and soldiers." He let that sink in a moment before continuing, "I'd say that there is at least a platoon in here, possibly even two. Think about it, two platoons of soldiers, loyal to you, ready to fight, and if need be, die gloriously on the field of battle.

And these small time sadists aren't even the surface of the problem. Many of the people in there were forced from their homes to come work in the Capital so that their families could pay the Prime Minister's outrageous taxes. Think of a county side populated by young men and women ready and willing to join in the fight against the Empire's enemies, instead of being populated by the oppressed masses, unwilling to do much of anything. It is not these people that are weak, but the Empire itself, and the Prime Minister is the one facilitating that." He finished his rant with glazed eyes in order to avoid the sight before him. She shook her head before looking to him.

"What you say borders on treason. I am a general in the Imperial Army. My loyalties lie with the Empire."

"And I'm not asking you to change that." He said, looking to her and away from the building, "I intend to bring criminal charges against the Prime Minister for what he has done to this country."

"The Prime Minister is a powerful man, he won't allow you to get away with this so easily."

"I know, that is why I showed you this today, Esdese. I need your help, your protection; and when the trial is over, when the Prime Minister is found guilty, he will not go quietly. I need you, and your army, to enforce whatever the court decides." He turned away from her, "There will be a civil war, not like the paltry revolution we have now, but a massive conflict that will shake this country to its very core." He turned back, his eyes pleading, "Please Esdese, I couldn't bear fighting against you."

She looked down and Alba couldn't see her eyes through the shadow cast by the brim of her hat. She shook her head once, then twice before moving away. As she passed the sweating owner of the estate she swiped her hand through the air in front of his neck, creating a whistling sound. He froze very suddenly before collapsing, his head coming off with a wet _plop_ as Alba noticed a paper-thin blade of ice extending from her hand, now dripping blood. The son seemed to notice this as well and stopped staring at her ass an instant before the Wache behind him brought the butt of his rifle down on his shoulder, forcing him to his knees. The Wache put a three round burst through his skull before joining his comrade in flanking Esdese.

Alba let out a small sigh of relief. Esdese spoke loudest with her actions and her execution of the sadistic father-son pair was about a loud a yes as he could think of. The small group left the hill, leaving the Wache des Kommandaten to burn the building to the ground.

* * *

They had all assembled in the council room back at the palace again by dusk. All of the Jaegers were quiet and solemn, heads bowed in individual thought. Esdese sat at one end of the table, her head resting on her steepled fingers, while Alba stood at the other end.

"Ok, love, give us your plan." She stated after several minutes of darkened silence.

"Very well, the gist of it is that I, as a citizen of the Empire, will bring charges of genocide, corruption, and treason against our most esteemed Prime Minister. When the court finds him guilty, he will most likely try to resist somehow. My prediction is that this will escalate into a full-blown civil war, with the Empire itself torn in two." He said. Many of the Jaegers, except Kurome who still seemed indifferent, lifted their heads and widened their eyes. They had been suspecting something, but nothing quite so far reaching. "First, I would like to assemble a quite tribunal of loyal officers to pardon the members of Night Raid, I will need their help in keeping members of the jury and the judge safe from the Prime Minister's cronies as well as garnering support in the lower classes."

"The Jaegers are not sufficient?" Esdese asked.

"No," he said, "I will have other uses for the Jaegers." Esdese nodded her head.

"Very well, it will be done." Alba nodded in turn before turning his head to the side.

"HEY AKAME!" He yelled. Almost before he had finished saying it she had appeared next to him with a gust of wind from an open window. Her gaze fell on Kurome and froze there. Many of the Jaegers were taken aback by her sudden appearance, Wave even knocked his chair over and drew his sword. The only one other than Esdese that didn't show any emotional reaction was Kurome.

"No, you can't have any, Onee-sama." Kurome said, mistaking the target of Akame's gaze for the always-present bag of cookies, which she pulled in closer over the table.

"Hey, Akame," He repeated, snapping his fingers in front of her face in order to get her attention, "take these to Najenda, they outline my plan and your guys' role in it." He said, handing her a thick parchment envelope. Akame nodded and left as quickly and silently as she had come.

"So that's how you escaped form Night Raid." Esdese said. Alba snorted.

"Maybe, but I don't think that plan quite conforms to what Najenda was thinking when she let me go." Esdese nodded again. She wasn't the least bit angry. Her love had once again shown his strength of wit and guile, as well as his honesty and integrity. "Ok, the trial itself will take several months at least, depending on how long the Prime Minister's lawyers want to drag it out. Our priority during this time will be to garner as much support as we possibly can.

Wave, I'll need you to go back east. Meet with all the flag officers you know and trust to try and get the support of the Navy." Wave, who had just sat back down, nodded nervously. "Seryu, the Imperial Guard in the Capital is nearly split in half; those like you, lovers of Justice and the Empire, and those who are as corrupt as the Prime Minister, I need you to gather as many good guys s you can to our cause." Seryu, still recovering from her shocking revelation earlier in the day, nodded firmly. "Bols, Kurome, Run, your jobs will be to protect the jury members, keep the PM off their backs and kept them impartial." Bols and Run both nodded, and Kurome continued to eat her cookies. "Esdese, I know Army Group North is loyal to you, anything else?"

"I have been in command of the Third and Forth Shock Guard Armies as part of Army Group West, and they should still be fairly loyal, but I don't know about the other armies in Army Group West or anything about Army Group South." She said. The three major frontier commands of the Imperial Army would probably provide the bulk of the fighting forces. Army Group Center, stationed in the Imperial Capital, was more of a police force than anything else and would be Seryu's responsibility, and the Imperial Marine Corps would swing whichever way the navy did and would be Wave's responsibility. Alba nodded and continued.

"Well, we can't do much else tonight. I'll file the formal charges in about a week, in the meantime, I want oral reports from all of you on how you want to complete your missions, dismissed." He had attained the air of a commander during the conversation and most of the Jaegers stood up instinctively. Only Kurome looked to Esdese for permission to leave. She nodded and Kurome left as well. Esdese was far from insulted about her love's conduct that evening. In fact, she was quite proud of him. If he was to be her consort, he would need to be a leader, not a follower.

* * *

Esdese had fallen asleep with the speed and efficiency of a trained soldier, but Alba still lay awake in bed. It still amazed him when he looked over that such a beautiful woman had taken an interest in him at all. Her pale skin burned with a slight blush and she let out a small murmur from a dream as she slept. He smiled loving as he brushed a small wisp of hair from her face. She had acted cold and calculating for most of the day and Alba had been worried more than once, but her aggressiveness and passion that evening had assuaged his doubts. She rolled over in her sleep and pulled him close, resting her forehead on his. Alba smiled even wider and fell asleep basking in her warmth.

* * *

**For my German readers, is Wache des Kommandaten a good enough name for a General's Gaurd?**

**For those better at Japanese, did I get 'Big Sister' right?**

**Reviews!**

**What do you guys think now that you know Alba's plan?**


	5. Wild Animals

A Black and White Cross

Chapter 6

Wild Animals

Alba sat in the reception chamber just outside the throne room, rubbing his white cross. He wasn't alone, on either side of him stood members from Esdese' Wache des Kommandaten, fully armored and equipped, their uniforms pressed and starched; the crème de la crème. Alba himself wore the white dress uniform of Army Group North, only without any insignia or decoration. He tapped his heal nervously and leaned his head on his hands. The Emperor, and by extension, the Prime Minister, was holding court and Alba intended to bring the charges against him in as public a manner as possible in order to avoid the Prime Minister shrugging them off. He had calculated that the Prime Minister would follow the rules of propriety and hospitality, but he may renege and try to have him killed.

That was one reason why the Wache were there in the first place. The other was to make it clear that he was under Esdese' protection, and hopefully make the Prime Minister think twice before having him executed outright. That was just a temporary measure however, it was a fact that the Prime Minister would try to have him killed, regardless of whether or not he had Esdese' support. He stopped moving his leg and took a deep breath. The Prime Minister was an animal, a predator, and must be handled as such. If he wanted to pull this off he needed to project an air of complete confidence. He went over how the plan had gone so far in order to calm himself down.

The tribunals had gone off without a hitch. The three living members of Night Raid that the Empire knew of; Mine, Najenda, and Akame; had all secretly come into the Capital and were pardoned under the pretense that their actions 'were in the best interest of the Empire and the Emperor'. Although the tribunals were more or less a secret, the bureaucracy had been sated and Alba could reveal them when he chose, as long as they refrained from their normal operational pattern. Najenda had gone along with the plan with a few changes she had deigned not to share with him at the tribunal. Her reason for agreeing to the plan instead of killing him for going back on the spirit, if not the word, of their contract was that she actually liked the plan. Her exact words were "I like it, this plan has more balls than every one of those dick monkeys back at HQ."

Alba actually chuckled aloud and realized that he wasn't nervous anymore. He shook his head and stood up, the Wache beside him coming to attention, their heels and rifles making an audible _clack_ in the empty reception chamber. He took another deep breath as the large double doors to throne room opened, revealing two Imperial Guardsmen dragging some poor bureaucrat kicking and screaming. The morose scene passed him and he gulped before bringing the steel curtain of self-control back down.

* * *

Esdese stood inside the throne room while Alba had been outside, quite bored. The excitement she had felt when she had arrived that morning had long since worn off with the constant stream of whining nobles and sniveling bureaucrats coming in for petty problems or brought in under charges. She looked around as the latest man, who had probably done nothing actually wrong, was charged with some crime or other. The young General Nasim from Army Group South stood across from her, looking similarly board. He wore the tan uniform from his Group and every time he shifted on his feet Esdese thought she could see more sand fall to the floor. General Nobunaga from Army Group West stood next to him in West's olive drab uniform, giving off an aura of complete calm and disinterest. Field Marshal Budo stood next to her in the silver and black of the Imperial Guard. The Field Marshal, a large man even in civilian clothes, seemed to tower over her, his impassive expression increasing his intimidation factor. The Prime Minister stood behind the young emperor's throne, eating a slab of what Esdese guessed was salted meat.

She sucked a breath in as the last bureaucrat was dragged out, kicking and screaming. The next one up for an audience with the Emperor was Alba. The doors flung back open and Alba entered, tall and erect, a look of casual interest on his face, flanked by the two members of the Wache she had assigned to his protection. The scribe next to the throne called him out.

"Alba, Citizen of Aachen, Province of the Lioness." He said and half the room seemed to freeze. Nasim openly stared at the boy and Nobunaga and Esdese turned into blocks of impassive stone. She-she hadn't known. How could she have not known such an important detail about her lover? Of the others in the room, none seemed to show any reaction to the deceptively simple statement, even the Prime Minister, who had ordered the village's destruction.

"What is your purpose here?" the scribe asked.

"My purpose here is to bring charges of genocide, corruption, abuse of power, and treason against Prime Minister Honest." The room had been quiet before but now the silence was palpable. Nasim's jaw had dropped and Nobunaga took in a deep breath, the first time Esdese had seen him move the entire proceedings. It took the scribe only a few moments to recover from his shock.

"Do you have the necessary documents?" He asked, getting up.

"I do." Alba replied, pulling a parcel from his left breast pocket. The scribe crossed the area between his desk and Alba, but when he reached up to grab the parcel the Imperial Guardsman standing behind his desk, presumably for the scribe's own security, raised his rifle to fire at the pair; which one Esdese would never know because one of the Wache rose his rifle and put a single round into the Guardsman's closed helmet before he could even train the rifle. His fellow on Alba's other side turned in the blink of an eye fired a three round burst into each of the Guardsmen flanking the door before they even knew what was going on. The first Wache retrained his rifle and similarly dispatched the two Guardsmen flanking the throne, and by extension, the Prime Minister. Esdese noted them for later commendation. Supposedly the Imperial Guard, especially those designated for palace security, were the best of the best, and the two of them alone had killed all five in the throne room in under three seconds. The three generals had all drawn the conventional weapons they carried in the palace (they weren't allowed to carry their Imperial Arms) and trained them on the trio, but Esdese rose a hand and the weapons froze in their hands.

"Now, now, let's not be hasty, he hasn't broken any laws yet." She said. Her blood was pumping now and she had an evil smile.

"Your men fired first you traitorous bitch!" Nasim said. He had always been jealous of Esdese' military success and her status as the 'prodigy child'. She turned the full force of her unsettling smile upon him and he flinched.

"My men are veterans of a long and bloody war against a shrewd and powerful foe. Leveling a weapon in the direction of their charge is announcing intent to kill and they responded accordingly. It's something a mewling babe like yourself could never understand." Nasim's anger grew, but he lowered his hands, now frozen to his handgun. Nobunaga and Budo lowered their dai-katana and warhammer, respectively. Esdese lowered her hand, but the smile remained. By now the Prime Minister's mildly amused silence turned to a cold, calculating rage.

"STOP!" the single, high pitched word rang throughout the throne room like a bell. The young Emperor Makoto, who up until this point had been silent stood up, striding over to the pale haired boy and standing on tip toes to get close enough to his face. "By what right do you bring such charges against my Prime Minister? One who has served well and in good faith?"

"It is my right as a citizen of the Empire to bring such charges against any government official should I be able to collect enough physical evidence of the crime, Your Majesty." He replied coolly, bowing his head slightly and putting his fist to his heart in his unique gesture of respect.

"Scribe, is this true?" he asked, turning to the scribe who was now thoroughly shaking in fear.

"Y-y-yes, Milord" he replied, voice shaking as hard as his body. The Emperor closed his eyes and framed his chin with his fingers in a posture he emulated from his predecessors. After a moment he opened them again and spoke.

"Very well, I know that my Prime Minister is innocent, but if the laws say that he must be brought to trial, so be it." He said, walking back to the throne and sitting down again. Alba nodded, finally handing the scribe the small parcel before coming to attention and bowing more fully. The Emperor waved his hand and Alba walked out, as calmly and confidently as he had walked in. Esdese tried not to look at him as he did, because if she did, she might show a sign of weakness in front of the other wild predators in the room.

* * *

As soon as Alba's party was in a fairly secluded spot on the palace grounds, he promptly fell to his knees and wretched. He hadn't eaten anything earlier for this exact reason and all that came up was bile. His limbs started to shake so bad that he could barely hold himself up on all fours. He continued to heave for several minutes before he got it under control. He was still shaking terribly, but he was able to push himself to his feet. He took a few deep breaths to get his heart rate under control and grabbed his cross through his shirt to steady himself. After he had gotten himself under moderate control he turned to the nearest Wache.

"I can trust you not to tell anyone about this, can't I?" He didn't move and Alba couldn't see his face through the Wache's full face mask. "Of course I can." Alba said sarcastically to no one in particular. It's a good thing they had full face masks, because the Wache was smiling. His charge was young, inexperienced, and a virgin to true combat, but he had a pair. The Wache had faced down ten-to-one odds in the most recent Northern War alone and were considered among the other soldiers of Army Group North to be "the bravest bunch of assholes this side of the moon." But the two Wache with Alba couldn't convince themselves that they could have done what he had. They went on back to Esdese' wing of the palace to await her arrival.

When they got there Wave and Kurome were training out in the yard and Wave wanted to know all about what happened, and although Kurome seemed disinterested, she was just within earshot to hear what they said. Alba was still recovering from the after effects of his nervous breakdown and waved them off. Wave's disappointment was very visible and although she said nothing, Alba thought that he could see a slight wave of it ripple across Kurome's face. When he got inside Bols asked him if he had any requests for dinner and Alba waved him off as well, citing that he wasn't hungry. Alba was extremely relieved when he finally closed the bedroom door, alone at last. He guessed he should be nicer to them, they were leaving tomorrow, and he wouldn't get a…

"HIYAA!" He heard, turning around quikly with a yelp.

"Sir, are you ok?" One of the Wache asked from just outside the door

"Y-Yea, I'm fine." He said loudly, projected toward the door, before bringing his voice down and storming across the room toward the two intruders.

"What the hell are you two doing here? You're supposed to be combing the countryside for support and you're supposed to be doing the same thing in the slums." Leone and Tatsumi both grinned at him and giggled. Leone started off,

"The people in the slums aren't going to support anybody, they're going to keep their heads down until the smoke clears-"

"-and the people in the country already support the revolutionary army, and you've already got their support -"

"-so the Boss told us to come down here and protect you-"

"-and here we are!" Tatsumi finished. Alba wondered if they had practiced the little speech beforehand.

"What makes you think I need extra protection?" he asked. This must be one of Najenda's 'corrections'.

"Listen, the Wache are good, but they won't be able to stand up to Imperial Arms users, and you're sending the Jaegers off to the four corners of the globe, and Esdese can't be everywhere at once." Tatsumi replied, Alba sighed resignedly, completely missing the contradictory metaphor.

"What other changes did Najenda make to the plan?" he asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Don't worry, Akame is already moving against the PM's underground resources, Mine is set up to defend whatever judge is selected for the trial, and Lubbock is collecting the books you specified and moving them off to the northern industrial cities." He ended his statement with a knowing smile.

"Why am I still worried?" Alba muttered, shutting his eyes. He opened them and released his nose, turning back to them. "Look, fine, don't tell me, just stay out of sight, you guys are my trump card and I don't need you revealing yourselves too early."

"Don't worry," Tatsumi repeated "we're assassins, remember?" He said before jumping out the window. Leone sat down on the stone rail, waving, and simply fell back. Alba sighed as the tension left his body. He more or less staggered over to the bed and fell face up on it. It was warm and inviting and…

Alba woke up suddenly at a murmuring sound in his ear. It was night now and Esdese had returned. He felt an unnatural draft and realized that she had undressed him and was now cupping him in her arms. He smiled and fell back asleep, knowing full well that he was now a target of the most powerful man in the world, but that it didn't matter. He had Esdese, and he was going to change the world.

* * *

**Thanks for all of your support!**

**I know that my characters and their situations are starting to diverge from vanilla, but this far in I can't change anything'**

**What should Chelsea do? She's not alive long enough for me to learn enough about her to decide (She'll probably live here though)**


	6. The Beginning

A Black and White Cross

Chapter 7

The Beginning

Alba woke up slowly. It was cold, he knew that much, and he closed his eyes against the light streaming in the window. He reached down to try and grab a blanket, but there was nothing there. He must have kicked it off, probably because cuddling with Esdese was similar to cuddling with a furnace. As his thoughts turned to her he smiled a little bit, turning over. He started to move his hand around, searching, but it only encountered empty space. He squinted his eyes open after a few moments.

The bed next to him was empty, small dust motes swirling in the early morning light. He sat up and looked around the large bedroom. Everything was where it was the night before, except for a pile of clothes next to the bed. Alba noticed his undergarments in the pile and a deep blush crossed his face as he grabbed a pillow and place it in his exposed lap. After that he noticed Esdese sitting one of the plush couches only a few yards from the bed. She was still in her night shirt and her hair was still a little harried. She had a drawn and distant look.

"What's wrong, Esdese?" He asked softly, half because he wasn't fully awake yet and half because he was truly concerned. He hadn't seen her look so depressed. Her eyes came back to Earth and she gave him a sad look.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked, her voice small. He gave her a confused look.

"What do you mean, love?" He asked. He got up, completely forgetting his nakedness and went over to her, sitting on the couch.

"I don't know who you are." She said, "You never told me that you were a survivor of the Aachen Massacre. That is something that as both your lover and superior officer I should know. It makes me think what else I don't know about you. What were you like before? What have you been doing in the three years since?" Her eyes grew distant once more, "Who else have you given your love to? Who else have you pledged yourself to?"

Alba reached up and kissed her. It wasn't particularly romantic, or passionate, but it relayed the answer to at least the last two questions.

"Wait here, let me get a shower and put some clothes on, then I'll tell you as much about me as you want to know." He gave her a disarming smile and stood up. He was still unclothed, but he didn't really feel embarrassed if it was just Esdese there, he was hers, after all. She went back to her thoughts as he disappeared into the bathroom.

* * *

"Hey, hey Sis, wake up." Tatsumi said as he shook Leone's shoulder. The massive walls around the palace were actually hollow, filled with guard barracks, storehouses, armories, and a plethora of other rooms. Tatsumi and Leone had taken up residence in one of the storehouses with an outer wall that overlooked the same courtyard as their charges' bedroom. By removing a few bricks and using a combination of binoculars and some bowl-shaped device Lubbock had given them for sound, they were able to keep tabs on Alba.

"Ughhhh… What is it?" She said groggily, she had liberally depleted the palace's store of mead kept in this particular storehouse on her shift.

"Something important is about to go down." He said quietly.

"What?" She asked, her hangover asserting itself even in the darkened storehouse.

"I think they're going to talk about Alba's past." He elaborated. She looked up at that. Najenda had indeed tasked her and Tatsumi to protect Alba, as they had told him the night before, but what they hadn't told him, was that the boss had ordered them to gather as much information on Alba as possible. They had put a lot of bets on the white-haired teen, but they knew almost nothing about him.

"Give me that." She said as she got on her knees next to Tatsumi, pushing him out from behind the binoculars and grabbing the headphones off his head. Tatsumi was forced to go sit on an old bag of grain and wait.

* * *

Alba frowned at the mirror in the bathroom. He wore the white utility uniform of Army Group North, still without any insignia. He would have to find some new clothes, maybe even dye his hair. The white skin, hair, uniform, and light blue eyes made him pretty easy to pick out in a crowd. It was like painting a big target on his forehead for the Prime Minister's assassins…

He shook his head. Although what he was thinking had merit, he was merely stalling. He had kept almost his entire identity bottled up for more than three years, almost to the point where his soul and mind where as white and clean as his hair and skin. He took in a deep breath, held it for a moment and let it out. He couldn't be so selfish about it now. Someone else had a right to know, someone who actually wanted to know. He took another deep breath before leaving the bathroom.

Esdese sat in much the same position she had when he left her. Her knees together and her feet far apart, leaning back slightly on the couch. Alba moved to a chair opposite the couch and sat down. Esdese still looked off into the distance. They sat in silence for a few moments before Esdese spoke.

"Who are you?" She asked, her voice as distant as her eyes.

"My name, is Alba Tapaidh," he started, "as for who I am, that's a much longer story." Esdese simply looked at him, waiting. Alba sighed. He wasn't going to get out of it that easily.

* * *

I was born sixteen years ago to a woman named Maria Salvia. She was, to put it bluntly, the town whore. Sleeping with nearly every passerby that entered our village. No one really knew who my father was, no one even cared. I was the bastard son of a wench, and so was stained from birth. Now Aachen, while being in the mountains, was settled by refugees of the great wars that forged the Empire. THs particular group of refugees happened to be from the coastal plains, and still carried the physical characteristics of those people, mainly dark hair, eyes, and skin. As you can see, I embody the exact opposite of those qualities, being pale, white-haired, and with eyes like those of an ice demon, or so the town butcher would say. My mother did not try to alleviate these in the least, and tried to auction me off to travelers on several occasions.

And so it was that I was alienated from all that I knew. I spent days at a time camping out in the mountains around the village during the summer, and in winter I usually slept in the inn my mother worked for, as long as I worked like a slave. I still have scars from beatings liberally administered by the inn keeper and drunkard patrons. One summer, while exploring one of the mountains overlooking Aachen, I found a tower. It seemed to be carved from a single block of grey stone perfectly matching the precipice that it sat on. I was about seven at the time, so I thought a mysterious tower was cool as hell. It had scraggly juniper trees and vines struggling to grow up its side and around its base, which gave it had this scraggly-abandoned-wizard/warlock appearance. So, like any seven-year-old boy, I went in to the tower. Luckily for me it hadn't become the den of a mountain lion or small danger beast, but instead was simply filled with dust. Under the dust of centuries was a fully furnished library-house, almost. It had a bed, kitchen, outhouse, and was fully furnished with chairs, rugs, etc. It was almost as if the original inhabitant had just gone to the grocer's and never come back, there was even still oil in the lamps. I was incredibly lucky, there was a fairly large trunk of coins in the cellar, along with a large selection of wines and other beverages. The wine was incredibly old, and so I was able to sell it whenever a decent-looking trader came through. With the funds from the drink and chest I was able to buy bread, cheese, and vegetables at the village market, but I still had to hunt. Oh, yea! I started living at the tower full time, only coming down the mountain to buy foodstuffs and the like. For five years I lived in the tower, and I had finally found a companion: books. I could submerge myself in a book and be the greatest of heroes, the grandest of knights. I lived in worlds where human kind had passed far beyond our own technology, or where they could use magic to heal and to fight and to build. I lived in those worlds for five short years.

One sleepy day in the fall, I woke up to the smell of smoke. Only it wasn't day, it was the middle of the night, and the village itself was burning bright enough to make it seem like sunrise. I couldn't really tell what was happening, only that things were bad. Eventually I saw people coming up the path toward my tower. I was twelve by this time, so I hid. The cellar had a trap door to a panic room, where I waited. I would stay there for several days, leaving only when I ran out of water. When I came back out, everything was eerily quiet. All my books were gone, but they hadn't touched the valuable wine or furniture. This confused me because all of the brigands and mercenaries in my books looted everything that wasn't bolted down before burning it down, preferably with a helpless damsel inside, but everything seemed to be unharmed. One thing I was sure of was that I couldn't stay. The village hated and despised me, but it provided most of my food, so since it was gone I couldn't survive, as the hunting was sparse and the ground to rocky to grow a proper crop.

And so I went off, with as much food and money as I could fit in my old sack backpack. I went to Leone first, which wasn't so bad. The road from Aachen to the provincial capital was a good one, patrolled more or less regularly by Imperial troops and provincial guards. Leone wasn't a half-bad city to begin with, but I couldn't stay for long. I had a very finite supply of money and by extension, food. So I did what any twelve year old filled with dreams of fantasy and heroes would do, I bought a sword. On top of the many fictional books I consumed I read a number of non-fiction books, including several on swordplay. I would actually practice for several hours each day with a stick back at the tower, and I thought I was pretty good. I soon found out that swinging a stick through air and swinging a sword through flesh were two very different things. I actually got into a scuffle with some footpads not long after I had spent my last coin. I took my stance, confident in victory, but they simply laughed at me. In anger I lunged at one of them and ran him through the heart. He gasped and choked once, twice, before falling over. The other became enraged at his comrade's demise and came at me with a knife, which I parried easily before taking his hand off at the wrist. Losing his hand was a little much for him and he fled, leaving his twitching digits and his friend's body behind. I was proud of my victory for a few moments, but when I closed my eyes, I could see the footpad's face as I ran him through. How I could feel the life leave him through my sword and his eyes dim. The thought struck me that he had probably had a family. Parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, maybe even wife and children. All of those people would mourn his death. Those people would see me as the villain. The Villain. The Bad Guy. I had killed a man in cold blood. It could have been seen as self-defense, but I could have just held them off, wounded him to the point where he ran, like the other, but instead I had killed him.

I didn't have a lot of time to fall into dismay. The captain of a company of mercenaries passing through Leone on their way to the Southern War saw my little fight and approached me. He said that he was impressed with how ruthlessly and skilled I had dealt with the footpads and offered me an apprenticeship with him. I was a little preoccupied with my sinking depression to notice, and he took it as a yes, going on to say that it gets easier, that everyone feels like that the first time. And so I started with the Free Griffin Company. The first few weeks were the hardest. I was pressed into more menial chores and service work than anything resembling training. They were by no means bad people, many of them were only seventeen or eighteen year old farm boys who had never left their home villages, and even the older sergeants were the grizzly militia veterans, most of them with children and grandchildren. All of these men had been forced to form a mercenary band in order to make money to feed their families. There had been a drought that year and the farmers were low on stocks for the winter and the poor economic state of the Empire had rendered many of the townspeople broke. Only the Captain, a grizzled, middle aged man, had any real combat experience, a marine with more than twenty years in the constant struggles off the coast. Many of these men were fairly nice, and took pity on me I guess.

After several weeks with The Company, I began to get a hold of myself. By the time we reached Los Panteras, in the Southern Desert, I was more or less recovered and a permanent fixture in the camp. The Captain put me on a rigorous training regimen, I would do parade with the Company before having swordsmanship practice with The Captain or one of the sergeants. It was winter in the desert, and it was biting cold. Many of the other mercs were from the temperate central plains of the Empire, and were ill equipped for the near-freezing day and negative degree nights. We lost some good men to frostbite and sickness before we even got to Los Panteras. When we got to the adobe city we reported to one Colonel Maraudus, the noble boy jackass that Nasim had put in charge of the numerous mercenary companies coming into Los Panteras, the headquarters of Army Group South and the center of the Southern War. The guy didn't even inspect us, he just put us on the front line with the Rasugas. The Cats, as we called them, are actually closer to human than anything else, but they still have the distinctive ears, tale, and fur of their ancient ancestors. Their tactics reflect their heritage as well in being swift, brutal, and deadly.

Now The Free Griffin Company was well trained and disciplined by our captain, but we were very poorly equipped. No two people had the exact same weapon, no two spears were the same length. We only had about a hundred and forty people, too small a number to effectively divvy up between swordsmen and spearmen and the like. Some of the swordsmen had actually made makeshift spears by strapping a dagger or dirk to the end of a sapling. We were a rag-tag bunch to be sure, but we were ready and rearing to go. We were ordered to hold some unknown little town in the middle of nowhere with no strategic or tactical value whatsoever. Everyone was sorely pissed about it and when we got there we were less diligent in preparing the defenses and keeping watch than we would have been. One crucial piece of intelligence that the good colonel had declined to tell us was that this little backwater(less) village was actually major stop on the pilgrimage required by the Cats religion, and that he had already lost several merc companies trying to hold it.

* * *

Alba paused for a moment. He thought he had buried this particular wound far enough down already. He was wrong, and old pain began to resurface. Esdese, who had been sitting down across from him, stood up and walked past him to a small bell string on the wall. A few moments later a servant came to the door and knocked. Esdese walked over and opened it. The servant was a professional, but it was hard to keep a straight face when a woman like that was standing half naked in front of you (Esdese still only wore the button up shirt she always wore to bed.

"Could we get some breakfast?"

"Of course, madam."

The servant disappeared with nary a whisper as she closed the door. She went to Alba's chair and sat down, wiggling down next to him and holding hi close as he struggled to overcome his old scars.

* * *

**Alright, fine, I'll see it through, but from here-on-in, it is going to become less and less vanilla.**

**I really need help with Chelsea, can't figure out what to do with her.**

**Don't worry, the back story will be finished.**

**I might draw and post a map on deviantart or something so you guys can get a sense of the geography I'm thinking of**

**Thanks again for all of your support!**


	7. Emotions

A Black and White Cross

Chapter 8

Emotions

Leone lifted her head from the binoculars slowly. She had been sitting in the same position for a little over an hour, listening in on the conversation. She still had a terrible hangover, her head was pounding and she simply felt like crap. Her hair felt more wild than usual as she ran her hand through it. She squinted her eyes against the headache, but all she could see was the fire and flames of that day. It had taken her more than a year to suppress the nightmares, but the day they had found that boy on that godforsaken hilltop the nightmares had come back with a vengeance. The only reason she had slept at all the night before was that she had consumed a full barrel of mead. She could still see it if she closed her eyes for a few moments…

* * *

"Damn it." Mine said as she looked through her Heads-Up-Display scope. Akame, Leone, and Sheele surrounded her on the mountainside overlooking the small village. It was dark out, and Mine was the only one with night vision capability.

"Hmmm? What is it?" Sheele asked, distant as usual.

"They beat us here." Mine said simply.

"What? How the hell did a mere mercenary regiment get here before us?" Leone asked in frustration. It had taken the Imperial Arms users nearly four days to travel the massive distance from the Capital to the outer Province of the Lioness, and every day away from the Capital was another day away from her usual bar haunt.

"They only had to move a few miles from Leona, while we had to move a few hundred." Akame said flatly. A growl rose in Leone's throat but something stopped her. Her senses, as well as her strength and reflexes, were boosted significantly by the belt Lionelle, and so she usually saw things before her comrades.

"Look." She said. The others turned their attention to the village below them, but it took a few moments to catch what Leone's sharp eyes and ears had observed. A small flicker of light in the darkened windows of the village, a faint scream carried on the wind.

"So it begins." Akame said dramatically before dropping off the cliff face.

"Show off." Leone said before jumping off in a summer sault. Sheele simply sighed at something no one else could see and fell off herself, going

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee…" in a high pitched voice. Mine snorted derisively before setting up pumpkin to fire on the mercenaries in the village.

The wind rushing past Leone's face gave her a rush and caused her to let out a feline howl as she transformed. This was actually Leone's first real combat mission since joining Night Raid, so she was really excited, despite her frustration at being dragged away from the plentiful supplies of alcohol in the Capital. She hit the ground with a shockwave that cratered the rough highland soil around her. She threw her head back in another howl as she rushed into the village.

* * *

"Sis! Sis, wake up!" Leone startled awake. The first thing she noticed was a massive headache that hit her like a mallet. She closed her eyes and moaned as someone pushed a cup into her hand. She drained the contents without thinking, it could have been quicksilver for all she cared. Some bread-like substance was pushed into her hand and she consumed it just as quickly, not bothering to taste it.

"You ok now Sis?" someone asked. She opened her eyes to find Tatsumi kneeling in front of her with a worried expression. "It looked like you were having a nightmare, so I woke you up"

"What?! I fell asleep?" She said, jumping up, causing Tatsumi to fall on his rear.

"Don't worry, they've just been having breakfast, just small talk." Tatsumi said, now from his back. The tension drained from her shoulders and they slumped a little.

"Good, good. You… you go find yourself something to eat, ok? I'll keep an eye here." She said, her face a little more drawn than what the hangover explained. Tatsumi looked at her worriedly again, she was trying to keep something form him, but he couldn't understand what or why. What he did understand was that she was his friend, and he would respect her wishes. He gave her that famous smile.

"Ok, I'll be back in a bit." He said. She gave him a small smile back as he walked out of the storeroom in order to sneak out of the wall. Leone turned back to the binoculars and earphones.

* * *

Esdese sat quietly at the table as she sipped her tea. She had showered herself and changed into her uniform, but she didn't have the great general bearing she usually carried about her. Her attitude was closer to that of a philosopher, contemplative and sad. The odyssey of her lover was shaping up to be remarkably similar to her own, only unlike her own, he had had nothing to latch onto. When her village was destroyed she had gathered her defenses and buried her scars in her philosophy of 'Survival of the Fittest' that her clan had passed down for generations. Alba had not had that. He had, instead, simply gone forward from the loss of everything he had known.

The young boy in question sat across the small round table in their bedroom. He had been silent for most of the meal and had eaten slowly. His eyes were distant and every once in a while a solitary tear would appear in his eye before being blinked away. His age hit her then. For the time they had known each other he had been very logical and mature, but right now, he really was nothing more than an adolescent. A boy on the cusp of being a man, and forced over the edge prematurely in order to survive. He sighed and put down his coffee mug.

"Very well." He said as he got up and moved back to his chair. She got up and stood behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to go on, I-"

"No, you asked who I was, and I have yet to answer your question." He reached up and squeezed her hand, giving her a sad but determined smile. She smiled back before returning to her position on the couch.

* * *

The town that Colonel Asshole had dumped us in, Al'Rabbask, was a major pilgrimage sight for the Rasugas, and so was a high strategic priority for them. We arrived late in the afternoon, and despite the chill of a winter wind, the sun was blazing hot. Many of the men were dead tired from a forced march through the desert and the Captain nearly had to whip them to establish a half-decent camp outside the low mud walls of the village. There were no trees in the desert to build a palisade and the ground was dry and sun baked and so it was nearly impossible to dig a ditch/wall in, eventually we simply stopped trying and set out a few sentries around the perimeter of the camp. In the end, I don't think it would have mattered if we had dug in or not. Sometime in the night I got up to use the latrine we had set up behind some bushes. It was dark and I was half asleep, but it was too quiet. I didn't hear the sound of snoring men, or of the night watch from the town, only a few meters away. Like the Captain had taught us, I had left my tent in full gear, just like I slept. I had the hand-and-a-half broadsword I had bought back in Leone, along with a long combat knife, a bow, and some arrows, and a steel heater shield with a rampant griffin, the symbol of the company. I didn't really think about it at the time, but looking back that lack of stimulus had put me on edge, triggered something that made my reflexes faster, my muscles stronger.

Eventually I finished my business and started to slowly make my way back to camp. About half way there, everything just erupted. Men started screaming and weapons started clattering, but I had heard those sounds before in the drills the Captain would run on use every so often. What I hadn't heard before was the screeching war howl of the Cats, and it put the fear of god in me. I had never been so afraid, not when my village was razed, not when I was attacked by footpads, not even when the mercenaries had searched my home while I was in the cellar. I am ashamed to say that I jumped in a natural depression and nearly pissed myself. The dark brown leather armor preferred by the Griffins blended in perfectly with the shadows cast over the depression from several now-burning tents. I gripped my bow tight and sat there, listening to my friends, my family, getting slaughtered. From a logical perspective, I wouldn't have made a difference. One thirteen year old would have been nothing but mincemeat in the melee, but that's not the way it felt. I felt, and still feel, like everyone was dying because I was laying in that ditch. Because I wasn't there to help.

After a few minutes the screams of men and the howls of cats began to subside and I looked out over the embankment. I couldn't see anything, but I could smell blood and charred flesh on the wind. I was about to throw up when I saw a number of Cats leaving the camp. My fear seemed to drain out of me along with every other emotion at the sight of the small group. They were all armored in an expensive and high quality chain mail that I didn't recognize, seeming to be made of silver more than steel. Their distinctive thin curved sabers were covered in scarlet blood, many of them were chortling the strange laugh of their people.

I lifted my bow. I really had no idea what I was doing, I didn't really have any idea on anything at the time, my experiences in fantasy and my training with the Griffins took over completely. Back in Aachen, I had quite a bit of time hunting the deer and wild goats that inhabited the mountains around the village, and had grown proficient in the use of the bow. I levelled it off horizontally, crouching in the ditch, and notched an arrow. They were only about twenty five or thirty meters away, so it wasn't a particularly hard shot, but the chainmail was an unknown quantity, so I could only hit their unprotected faces. I pulled the bowstring back and let go.

I had aimed at the one in the front of the group with the gaudiest decoration on his armor. The arrow flew true and entered the cat's right eye, sinking a good six inches into his skull. The other six or seven cats standing behind him snarled and brought their sabers up in a guard stance. I fired another arrow, but the quick reflexes of the cats' allowed them to swipe it out of the air with their thin swords. I growled and drew my sword, mounting my heater shield on my left forearm.

I ran out of the depression, screaming at the top of my lungs, my sword and shield raised. At the time, I thought they hesitated because they were surprised or scared, looking back, they probably were just befuddled as to why a human cub was running at them screaming. That hesitation caught at least one of them, I thrust my sword in the gap between his chainmail skirt and shirt and got up under the ribs and into the chest cavity, a perfect killing stroke. I pulled out and whirled around to encounter one of his friends bringing there saber down to chop my head like a melon, but I brought my shield up and it bounced off to one side. I swung my own sword up in a diagonal arc from bottom right to top left, but it left no damage to the strangely resilient mail. I did lay a long scratch across his muzzle and one eye before turning to face the next as he howled in pain. The next one came in more cautiously behind his tall tear-drop shaped shield and the others began imitating him, boxing me in with a half-circle of armored warriors. I started to back up until by back was against a burning tent, the light casting the cats' faces in shadow.

I began to taunt them in as brave a voice as I could muster, although it probably sounded more pitiful than courageous. The one I had wounded earlier was on the far right of the circle, and I decided that he was my best bet to get out. In the middle of a sentence I dashed off to the right, surprising them again. The one I had wounded lowered his shield in order to bring his saber down with full force, but he mistimed the blow. I came in under his guard, my shield raised and with as much force as my little body could muster. I hit him just below the waist and knocked him off balance. I used my forward momentum to continue forward and I planted a foot on his shoulder, pinning him down, as I brought my sword u to his throat. Right before I rammed it home, a voice rang out across the battle. It was a word in the flowing language of the Rasugas, and so I didn't understand its exact meaning, but it had the ring of command about it and the entire skirmish fell silent and still. The voice said something else and I heard the rasping of steel behind me. I felt a slight breath of air on the back of my neck as the saber that had been mere centimeters from severing it was sheathed.

I kept frozen, my sword hovering a hands breadth away from the throat of the cat beneath me. After a few moments a pair of worn of worn boots appeared in the upper of my vision and a languid, flowing voice filled my ears. It asked what my name was, I told him, it asked me where I was from, and I told him that too. Then it asked me who my father was, which I thought was a peculiar question. I told him that I didn't know and he said that that was a shame, that I had brought much honor to my lineage. He said that my swift and merciless ambush had even restored the honor of my pride after its defeat. It took me a few moments to parse his words, but then the red fog of battle lifted from my senses and I saw what was around me. Among the burning tents and spire were...

* * *

Alba choked as tears sprung to his eyes once more. Esdese made a sad little face as she came back to the present. Despite the ditch scenario, she felt like a little girl again, listening to the danger beast hunters tell stories of their exploits around the feasting table. But the problem was that Alba felt like a little boy again: afraid, alone, despairing. Everything was taken from him again, his new family slaughtered to a man, and in his own mind at least, it was all his fault. After a few moments the tears seemed to retreat somewhat.

"Sorry." He managed to say.

"No, no it's ok. You lost your family, your home, again. I've seen lone survivors of units break and cry or just simply break, never speaking again, the fact that you are where you are is a testament to your strength." She said, a comforting look on her face. He gave her a smile back, but it was a lonely, forlorn smile, and through it Esdese saw a dark abyss created from years of pain and hopelessness, and it was her job to fill it.

* * *

**Alright, I got a detention for this chapter, so you better like it.**

**I know, the back story is long, I got it, but Alba's a pretty complex dude**

**Is the Leone/Tatsumi side story ok?**

**Still want reviews!**


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